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The “Seven Basic Tools of Quality” is a name given to a fixed set of graphical techniques, first emphasized by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a professor of Engineering at Tokyo University, Japan, popularly known as the father of “Quality Circles.” Ishikawa was inspired by the seven famous weapons of Benkei, a Japanese warrior monk who is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty in Japanese folklore.

When reading or studying, I tend to look for patterns. It’s probably why I innately love marketing—it involves tons of data on patterns. As a woman who runs a second-generation manufacturing and engineering company I am a bit of an anomaly, a disruption to the normal pattern we tend to classify as “manufacturing”. Mine was not a conventional path to this career, but that often occurs for women in this industry. It is not our original career destination, but we find it a great fit, we stay, and we succeed. As a group, women continue to be underrepresented in the manufacturing sector and understanding the root cause of this dilemma can help us develop needed solutions.

When I review the vast amounts of research and combine it with my personal experiences and observations, I can’t help but see the patterns giving us answers.

In this three-post series, I have placed these patterns into a product life cycle concept that includes: 1. Introduction stage—STEM Education

Most manufacturing companies tend to ignore blogging, preferring instead to invest in other marketing tactics. What they may not realize is that a blog is the only platform that allows for the frequent creation of new content in order to attract readers without the intrusion of third-party algorithms or apps. A blog also drives every other form of online marketing, like social media campaigns and newsletters.

Gear types can be classified according to the relative position of their axes of revolution. For example, there are gears for parallel shafts, gears for intersecting shafts, and gears for skewed shafts. Spur and helical gears are two different types of mechanical gears falling under the category of “gears for parallel shafts”. Spur gears are used in many devices, like the electric screwdriver, wind-up alarm clock, and washing machine. Helical gears, on the other hand, operate much more smoothly and quietly than spur gears. Helical gears are used in almost all car transmissions. Look as hard as you like, but you won’t find spur gears in your car!

Why is employee engagement important to manufacturers? The answer is simple—to make higher profits, as engaged employees perform better. Moreover, the increasing intensity of competition in today’s global market has presented new challenges for manufacturing organizations. Customers are more aware and require lower priced, good quality, and greater value products. With the looming skills gap and jobs becoming more technologically advanced, the requirement of skilled employees has become one of the most important drivers of improved business performance and profit margin. Manufacturers cannot afford to lose their employees.

Getting the basics right is a great way to advance your career. Manufacturing professionals have realized the same to ensure their credibility as a professional and to carry out their assigned jobs efficiently. Here are a few eLearning courses that are now being taken by manufacturing professionals around the globe.

Thread pitch is one of the key classifying units used to specify threaded fasteners in the metric system. Thread pitch refers to the distance between threads and is expressed in millimeters. This measurement is taken along the length of the fastener. For example, if the distance between two threads is 1.6mm, this means the thread pitch is 1.6. A steel rule, caliper, or comparator are the most common measuring instruments used to determine thread pitch.

Technological advancements are changing the manufacturing industry at an increasingly rapid pace. The modern manufacturing industry is offering well-paid careers and requires a workforce with diverse degrees, certifications, and hands-on experience. The future manufacturing workforce is also expected to undergo extensive skills development with a passion for continuous improvement.

Around 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled over the next decade and two million are expected to go unfilled due to a major lack of skilled candidates, as per a report by the Manufacturing Institute. Moreover, the work in factories has evolved over the last decade or so, as manufacturing companies have invested in advanced machinery and new technologies requiring a new set of skills.

The modern manufacturing industry now needs a highly skilled workforce in nearly every aspect of manufacturing, whether it is as a machinist, welder, engineer, assembler, 3D designer, or maintenance worker. In order to get a skilled workforce, manufacturers must make the investment in training programs that pay workers while they are doing on-the-job training and then provides a full-time job upon completion of the program.

Around 47% of organizations are now using mobile devices for their online training needs and this number is sure to grow, according to a report by Towards Maturity. Known for its rich multimedia course content and making communication between instructors and participants easy, mobile learning can benefit learner performance immensely.